The Provincial Office for the Congregation of the Mission Western Province will move this summer from Earth City in West St. Louis County to the Aquinas Institute of Theology building in Midtown St. Louis, next to Saint Louis University.
The Western Province will begin a facilities sharing agreement in the building, located at 3701 Forest Park Ave., and is pursuing the sale of the Earth City building. An opening event will be held in November to introduce the community to the new facility.
“This move will enable us to have a stronger voice for the poor in St. Louis and a better opportunity to develop relationships and partnerships in mission with the local church and other religious communities,” said Provincial Superior Fr. Patrick McDevitt, C.M. “Moreover, the move will provide many opportunities to share mission with the Dominicans in education and formation of the clergy and laity.”
Fr. McDevitt further noted that the new office will also be closer to one of its apostolates, St. Vincent de Paul Parish, as well as the Daughters of Charity and the St. Louis chapter of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, both members of the Vincentian community, and other Catholic organizations.
The province’s office has been at the Earth City location for more than 25 years, prior to which it was in St. Louis at Pennsylvania Street and Cass Avenue. Fr. John Gagnepain, C.M., who was Provincial Superior at that time, said the province left that building because it had outgrown the space there.
“It was a good location, and we liked it, but it wasn’t big enough,” he said. “I remember we moved in one day. It took four semis.”
Fr. McDevitt said the new location not only allows the province to fulfill its mission more practically but also signifies a new era in its long history.
“I believe deeply that this move symbolizes a new path of openness, creativity, and connection with the Catholic community in St. Louis and society at large,” Fr. McDevitt explained, “particularly the poor, ‘who feed us,’ in our founder’s words.”